Charter Board Assumes Responsibility for Charter School Residency Fraud Investigations

Contact: Audrey Williams  202-328-2748 office
[email protected]

Washington, D.C. — The DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB) for the first time is taking on the responsibility for investigating residency fraud in DC charter schools.  Residency fraud occurs when students who are not residents of the District of Columbia attend a DC public charter school without paying non-resident tuition.

“As part of our oversight responsibility, we want to make sure that students who truly reside in the District are able to get the education they deserve,” said PCSB Executive Director Scott Pearson. “With PCSB taking on this responsibility, it relieves schools from the burden of looking into suspected residency fraud.  Given the long waitlists at many of our charter schools we hope this effort will ensure that the maximum number of charter seats is available for DC residents.”

PCSB has contracted with external licensed investigators who will handle any residency fraud cases identified in charter schools.  Once the investigation is complete, the investigator will inform PCSB whether the parent or caregiver is a resident of the District of Columbia. PCSB will inform the school and the parent or caregiver of the results.  If the investigator determines that the parent or caregiver is not a resident of the District of Columbia, the parent or caregiver will be provided notice of his or her right to appeal the finding within 10 business days of the finding. The decision regarding a parent or caregiver appeal will be rendered by a team of PCSB representatives, including the General Counsel, and a representative from the school. After the investigation is concluded, PCSB will inform the school, the parent or caregiver, and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) of the results of the investigation. 

This work comes as OSSE conducts the official enrollment count of DC public school students and the enrollment audit, which verifies that all students in DC public and public charter schools are in fact residents of the District of Columbia.  OSSE has set up a confidential student residency fraud hotline for those who have information about non-residents receiving District funded public education.  Persons wishing to report suspected residency fraud may either call the OSSE hotline at (202) 727-7224 or call PCSB directly at 202-328-2660.  Any suspected charter school residency fraud cases that are received through the hotline will be sent to PCSB for further investigation. 

About PCSB: The DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB) is setting a national model for creating quality public school options through its rigorous review of new charter applications and effective oversight of charter school performance that is leading the transformation of public education in Washington, DC. PCSB currently oversees 57 public charter schools on 102 campuses serving 35,019 students living in every ward of the city. Learn more at www.dcpcsb.org.